Laptop Died... Need to do build earlier than expected! $1000

Should I do dual 560 ti's instead of the 580?

It'll be hard to fit in a 580 or 2x560Ti in a 1k build.

What monitor resolution are you going to be gaming at? I'm assuming 1920x1080, but if it's anything higher I'd recommend an AMD GPU since they perform significantly better than the NVidia GPUs in that range.

I'd recommend the i5-2500K and a good Z68 board made by Gigabyte or ASRock. The ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 is only $130 and is SLI/Crossfire capable. Together with the i5 it'll cost $350.

As far as a hard drive goes, you're best off with the Samsung F3 1TB. It's the fastest, very reliable, and relatively cheap. You may be able to fit a SSD in the budget; a 60+ GB will work well as a boot drive, or you can get a smaller ~20-30GB drive for caching.

I'd get a 560Ti or 6950; both will be able to handle plenty of games at max settings. If you can fit it in the budget, get the 570/6970. A 580 won't quite be doable because it's ~$500. 2x560Tis is a bad choice because you can't do a drop-in upgrade - you'd have to buy completely new GPUs.

As far as power goes, you'll need a good 650W for 1x560Ti/6950, 750W for 2x560Ti/6950 or 1x570/6970, and 850W for 2x570/6970, so keep those numbers in mind if you plan to upgrade down the road. Get a Corsair, XFX, Antec, or Seasonic.

You'll need to decide on a case that you like. A good mid tower is ~$60 and a full tower is about $140.

Thanks^

How is this build?

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119233
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$59.99


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$5.00 Instant
$64.99
$59.99


Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE ...
Item #: N82E16817371049
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$35.00 Instant
$25.00 Mail-in Rebate
$129.99
$94.99


CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820233144
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
$62.99
$57.99


COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...
Item #: N82E16835103065
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-$2.00 Instant
$29.99
$27.99
1

IOCell Networks Traveler 251U 2.5" Gray USB 2.0 External Enclosure
Item #: N82E16817810018
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-$3.99 Saving
$3.99
$0.00


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Item #: N82E16819115072

MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813130582

Total = $625 w/o video card
With video card = 991 after rebates http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=GX-560_1G&titl...

that looks decent. Let me suggest the Rosewill Challenger U3 for the same price, which has a USB 3 front panel, plenty of room, and plenty of fans.

If you are going to go with 2x 560ti eventually, you can drop to 650W
The XFX 650W has 4 PCIe pins, and 53 amps on its 12v rail.

A 2600K + 2xTX560ti system uses 449 Watts, so you have plenty of headroom to overclock

Thanks for the suggestions I will go with those.

Is this the best possible motherboard for the price when it comes to SLI?

its a decent motherboard

I want to buy this soon is this build good enough to run bf3 and skyrim?

yes

Go with a 750W PSU. Once you OC and add a second GPU you'll be stressing the PSU too much and will shorten it's life. Also depends on the manufacturer as well.

Every time I look at actual draws I end up on the fence with this one.

Screwy is right a good 650W will work fine, but if it were my build and I was sure I was going SLI I would likely go with the 750W. But then, I would insist on 80plus Gold and fully modular also. Not partly modular like the Corsair HX series.

Seasonic X750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Yeah it's a tough argument either way. I used to run my i7-930 + 2x470s on an Antec EA650, but I feel like it wasn't a very healthy way to run the system. If you can afford a good 750W, it'll be worth it IMO - better efficiencies and longer PSU life.

The key word there is *good*. My current TX950 is having some odd start up issues, has an annoying coil whine, and has a pretty bad reputation, and I have a relatively low power system.

My main concern are the Galaxy 560 ti's. Are they good? At 183 after rebate you can not beat the price. Also, I would like to be close to maxing out BF3.

Last time I did the math I think it ended up at around 75% load for a 650W for hard gaming. So not actually stressful to a good PSU, but not ideal.

And you just never know what you might decide to do in the future. Since I water cool and frequently upgrade, I found the constant unplugging of the 24-pin connector on my 750TX wore it out. Corsair graciously replaced it with a new V2, but the point is it's better to replace a modular cable than to RMA a PSU ($15-20 shipping).

I have no problem with any video card company really. Just make sure they have a good warranty and the RMA center is in the US.

Oh, but EVGA is an actual US company centered in CA, if that makes a difference. That's one good argument for EVGA.

I've also contacted their customer support a few times and found them to be a bit more helpful than most other companies' CS and the response time was a little faster. I think at least a good portion of their CS is located in CA, rather than overseas.

Plus, their warranties are good and the products are great!

Okay, so I think i am going to go with the PNY 560 ti. It is an exhaust card so hopefully that will keep temps down inside the case.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=produ...

Made the purchase! Should be building on wednesday.  

Congrats! Keep us updated in this thread if there are any problems that we can help solve.